Afraid of bears? Hmmm… Yeah?! :c/

Sometimes I think I’m just nuts. Why should I walk through the wilderness with bears and other “dangerous” animals creeping around at night? Not that they ain’t there during daytime yet at night irrational thoughts and emotions seem to be much more present. I guess mainly cuz I feel like my security depends upon my eyes to see what is around (the gift of our modern society. It’s time time time I remember what our ancestors still knew… that one has more senses that just the sight!!! I’m working on it!!!) . Yet facing a bear in the afternoon will probably make my breath stop for some seconds too… Jee, I’m just crazy. One little woman facing a bear… I just have to imagine it and I start asking myself: Why again did I want to hike the JMT?Though all guidebooks seem to say (if I read well) that bears aren’t a reason not to hike the JMT. Incidents with black bears are rather uncommon, as long as one follows the rules in stuffing all food and smellable items into the bear can. O yeah that I’ll definitely do! Good thing those bear cans exist! Holy spirit, I think I won’t close an eye the first few nights, even if all is nicely tucked away into my Bearikade. Yet after those first 3 or 4 nights, I’ll probably be so dead (not because of a bear – I HOPE haha- but because I’m so freakin’ tired) that I’ll sleep like a stone! And I hope that along the way I’ll remember my reason for hiking the JMT: Connecting with nature, being a part of nature, BE nature (and therefor be equal to all other creatures, trees, rivers, mountains,…)